In the blink of an eye, it was approaching, and it was inconvenient for Xue Peiqi and Cao Yingze to refuse the Duke of Chu, so they went to the banquet by appointment.

The two rode together, passing by a large silk trading house a few zhang square, Cao Yingze looked at him Nunu and said, "See, this is one of the trading houses that your eldest brother gave to Song Zhenyuan, look at this style, even with the shop, let alone twenty or thirty thousand taels of silver, tsk tsk......t"

Xue Peiqi glanced at the silk village, it was indeed a grand scale, it seemed that Xue Huijin was determined to catch the line of King Xi, so he replied indifferently, "What he wants to do is not up to my district Luo'an Mansion Yin." ”

"Brother Xue, it's just a moment of bad luck, when Your Majesty has almost forgotten about King Xu, he will definitely think of you as a talent, and there will be high-ranking officials waiting for you at that time, why be so discouraged!"

"I think this Luo'an's parents are very good, it doesn't matter if they go back to Changxing or not."

"Also, I think this Luo'an is prosperous and free, and there is no curfew, which is much better than the rigid atmosphere of Changxing. If I were you, I would be here to enjoy the magnificent scenery of the world and taste the flavors of the world. ”

The two were talking, and after a while, they arrived at the mansion of the Duke of Chu in the east of the city.

When the porter saw that it was two people, there was no need to pass it on, and he had already run up to serve, leading the horse and guiding the way, so he was not enthusiastic.

Looking at this formation, it didn't look like a Hongmen banquet, Xue Peiqi and Cao Yingze exchanged glances, then completely relaxed, and followed the little girl in the door to the main hall.

The Mansion of Chu State occupies a small area, but there is a hole inside, the main gate comes in is a white jade screen, bypassing the screen is a bay of living water, there are three stone arch bridges on the water, the two sides are willows and green bamboos, very quiet, there is no magnificence of the gate valve family. When the two of them saw this scene, they both felt refreshed and in a comfortable mood.

After the stone arch bridge is a three-storey main house building, the hall on the first floor is empty, the door openings on both sides of the front and back are open, the breeze is breezy, through this main house is a clear pond again, the two sides are rockery corridors, the opposite bank of the clear pond is brightly lit, it should be the main hall. When the two walked up to the corridor, the little guy in front of them trotted over to spread the word, and after a while, Chu Guogong walked out with a smile, followed by a son and a daughter.

Xue Peiqi and Cao Yingze hurriedly bowed their heads and saluted.

"No courtesy, no courtesy, why do the two nephews need to see each other. Ting'er and Chu'er, I've seen the two brothers soon, I haven't seen them for many years, I'm afraid I don't remember them, hehehe......"

When the woman saluted, Xue Peiqi only felt that her figure was familiar, as if she had seen it somewhere, but it was by no means a memory from childhood.

While she was thinking about it, the woman slowly got up and looked up, looking at each other, both of them were very surprised!

"You ......"

"You ......"

Looking at the stunned two, Xiao Hongming asked, "Have you seen it?" Xue Shi's nephew only came to Luo'an last year, and I have the impression that you have never met yet. ”

"It turns out that Mr. is Lord Yin Xue of Luo'an Mansion, and the little woman is polite. Father, do you remember the day before yesterday when I went to the Thousand Buddha Grottoes outside the city to worship the Buddha, the carriage got stuck in the quagmire, and a chivalrous warrior came to the rescue? ”

"Remember, remember! Oh! Isn't that chivalrous warrior Xue Shi's nephew?! ”

"It's Lord Xue."

"Oh, that's fate. We have been away from Changxing for many years, but we don't want to see the old man again, and we have been rescued twice, and the old man really wants to thank Xue Shi's nephew. ”

"Lord Xiao's words are serious, but it's just a gesture. As for the injury to Brother Xiao yesterday, he still felt guilty in his later life. ”

When Xiao Tingxiu heard this, he hurriedly arched his hand and said, "Tingxiu knows that he is reckless, and he has offended the two brothers, please come in, let's talk while drinking." ”

It turned out that Xiao Chuxiu and Xue Peiqi had an opportunity earlier, so it was not difficult to break the ice at this banquet, plus they chatted about some childhood past, and everyone quickly became acquainted.

Xiao Chuxiu has always been quiet, but he is rich and has five cars, and usually chats a few words at the banquet of relatives and friends to help his father boost the atmosphere, but today is unusual, except for adding tea and wine to everyone, he has been eating the rest of the time.

Emperor Hongyuan intended to rebuild the foreign trade order of Jingnan Province, and issued a number of policies to encourage the border people of Jingnan Province to reclaim and pioneer land and foreign trade, and many Central Plains commercial banks were eager to try.

Speaking of Luo'an alone, there are many big businessmen who are ready to go to Binzhou City, the seat of Jingnan Province, and some of the capital is not enough, and they are already planning to realize the property in their hands, so Luo'an's commercial banks, equity, mansions and other bulk property transactions are active, and they have become a big talk after tea and dinner.

Xiao Hongming drank more than a dozen glasses of wine, a little drunk, and now he said what he didn't usually want to say, "Although I am heavy on agriculture and suppress business, the benefits of doing business are more than tens of thousands. Just speaking of me, the Duke of Chu Guogong, the second grade, is only 18,000 taels a year, and even if you count the taxes paid by the fiefdom, I don't get much. A silk trading house engaged in foreign trade in Luo'an City may make a profit of tens of thousands of taels a year. Let's just talk about the imperial court itself, spending so much effort to reorganize and level the loss in the Taifu Temple, isn't it just for the benefit of trade? ”

Cao Yingze continued, "Who said it wasn't, Xiao Shibo, you are also an understanding person." I monopolize salt and iron, and the profit of this sect is more than 10,000,000, but it is still not enough. Now it is not enough to take the equalization and copper mines...... I don't know where the money is going. ”

Xue Peiqi saw that he criticized the government and hurriedly stepped on him.

Cao Yingze took a sip of wine into his throat, and was stepped on by Xue Peiqi like this, and he was almost choked to death, "cough, cough, cough, cough ......"

"Hehehe...... No hindrance, no hindrance, let's say a few words in private, it won't be passed out, and the two nephews don't have to be restrained. In other words, Xue Shinephew is from a business family, I don't know what his opinion is on the current situation in Jingnan Province? ”

Hearing this, Xiao Chuxiu, who had been immersed in eating, suddenly raised his head and looked at Xue Peiqi in a daze.

"It's a shame to say that since my grandparents entered the court as officials, my father's branch has been in Changxing and has hardly participated in the business of his ancestors, so he doesn't know much about business. However, it is reported that Taixiangxing, Luoyunxing, Changyunlong, and Hengxingxing, which has suddenly entered Luo'an with a large amount of capital recently, have all been deployed in Binzhou, and a merger war is inevitable. ”

"Hengxingxing? Hehe...... It seems that Song Yaozhi should be old and strong, and he will also take advantage of the situation to get a piece of the pie. ”

Hearing Xiao Hongming's words, Xue and Cao were both a little surprised, Hengxingxing, a trend-setter in Luo'an's business community recently, turned out to be the business name of the Song family? !

Xiao Tingxiu continued, "The Song family is a family of cultivators, and later the family multiplied, and the population increased and became involved in business, Hengxing Xingyuan was just the Song family's industry in the ancestral hometown of Xingdong Road and the state capital, doing some small business, and later Song Hui Concubine was favored, from a small district to the concubine, Song Yaozhi from a small county order all the way to the current Taifu Temple, Hengxing Xing gradually became bigger. Recently, Hengxing Bank has gotten a huge amount of money from nowhere, and has expanded its territory on a large scale, like a fish in water, and it is really 30 years in Hedong and 30 years in Hexi. ”

Xiao Tingxiu saluted Xue and Cao again and then turned to his father and said, "Father, you have never been involved in business, and you have never let your children get involved, and now this good situation can only be missed." ”

"My clan has never been in business, I don't know how to do business, if I crash into it, I'm afraid that even this ancestral property will be lost, how to explain to the ancestors and the clansmen? I already have to thank the gods for reading a few more books and keeping this ancestral property, and don't talk about these wild things! ”

Xiao Tingxiu lowered his head and stopped talking, and the group drank another round, and they didn't disperse until three o'clock.

Xiao Tingxiu and Xiao Chuxiu, two brothers and sisters, personally went to the gate of the mansion from Xue and Cao, and said a lot of words of thanks and reunion, when they were about to separate, Xiao Chuxiu suddenly remembered something, hurriedly called Xue Peiqi, and then turned around and said a few words to Xi Ning, Xi Ning laughed while listening, and ran away with a promise.

"Miss Xiao, this is ......"

"Lord Xue is not busy leaving, since he is here, he might as well take the mount back with him. It was a good horse from the Western Regions, and Chu Xiu didn't dare to be greedy. ”

As he was talking, the little man in charge of the stable took the horse that Xue Peiqi left the day before yesterday and handed it back to him.

Cao Yingze covered his mouth and smiled, pushed Xue Peiqi with his elbow, and whispered, "It is rumored that I am a merry and talented man in this Changxing market, and I think you are the ......."

Xue Peiqi was a little embarrassed somehow, took the reins and left.

On the way, Cao Yingze didn't forget to tease him a few words, but after thinking about it, he said to Xue Peiqi, "However, the Lanling Xiao family is a scholar clan, such a family is not a casual marriage, if you really like Miss Xiao, you have to plan earlier, otherwise maybe one day people will marry into the Son of Heaven." ”

Cao Yingze is not bad, the great cause of the country in the founding of the country in the war of the door valve support, after the establishment of the country, on the merits of the reward, the door valve politics more and more prosperous, unless the average people have made meritorious contributions for generations, generation after generation of accumulated grace, otherwise it is impossible to reach the height of the gate valve. But the so-called "rich but three generations", can you keep the shadow of the ancestors, and how many families can make contributions for generations?

Take the Xue family as an example, Xue Yin founded the equalization of losses, made great contributions to the country, and conscientiously managed the country's finances, and was only crowned the Duke of Zhengsanpin Xincheng County in his life. Another example is the Song family, and the son of today is in-laws, Song Yaozhi himself is a great Confucian, and there are many disciples of Qinghe Cui and other gate lords among the protégés, but it was only after Song Huifei was promoted to the concubine position that he got the title of Marquis of Anping from Sanpin.

And the Lanling Xiao family and the Fan Yang Lu family, their relatives are all the princes of the second grade, and Han Yang, who is from the Han family of Xiangzhou, was named the Duke of Korea just after serving the two emperors. The Son of Heaven of the Great Cause Country is not crowned a king outside of the family, and the Duke of the Kingdom is already the highest title of the foreign surname. Heights that others can't climb in their lifetimes can easily get as long as they marry a daughter or help the emperor run errands. If people in the world want to talk about "fairness" with the scholars, they can only waste their tongues.

Xue Peiqi didn't want to get entangled with Cao Yingze about this matter, he and Xiao Chuxiu just met by chance, not even old friends, and these marriage arguments were even more impossible, so he diverted the topic, "Now that Jingnan Dao is full of heroes, I see that you have long been itching and want to join in the fun, so don't accompany me, a lonely person, in Luo'an, lest one day you also drink and commit murder in the likes of Drunken Chunyuan, I don't want to send you back to Changxing." ”

Cao Yingze was speechless for a while, so he could only stop talking.